Teen charged with murder in Crane shooting

March 9, 2008 9:08:02 PM PDT

CHICAGO --

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of Ruben Ivy, an 18-year-old gunned down Friday outside of Crane High School.Devonte Smith was charged as an adult and was being held without bond Sunday evening.

The Cook County state's attorney filed a single charge of first degree murder against Smith. They accuse the Crane High School sophomore of shooting Ivy during a gang fight that also critically injured another teen.

Smith's mother left court Sunday morning with little to say about her son's guilt or innocence.

"I have no comment at this time," she told ABC7 Chicago.

Relatives and friends of Smith were present when he appeared for the bond hearing Sunday. Prosecutors accused Smith of shooting Ivy after a large fight broke out among several students at the end of the school day Friday.

The state attorney's office says Smith is a gang member, and it has nearly a dozen witnesses who not only identified Smith by name, but also saw him walk up to Ivy and shoot him in the chest.

Smith's attorney admits her client has had scuffles in school before, but she says he has never been in any real trouble.

"He's a nice kid. He goes to school. You do have problems in school, and there have been fights," said Mable Taylor, Smith's attorney.

The family of Ruben Ivy says he did not know his attacker and was not in a gang himself. They believe the teen who killed him targeted him earlier in the day.

"The man said, 'What time does your brother get out [of school]? Where's Ruben?' So, the whole time he was looking for him before school got out. He had in his mind what he was going to do to my little brother,'" said Jerome Edwards, the victim's brother.

Some students said previously that the shooting was the result of dispute over an expensive hat, but investigators eventually said the gun violence was driven by gang activity.

That same violence injured another student critically. The 15-year-old was beaten with a golf club during the same melee that cost Ivy his life.

"My nephew wasn't involved in any gangs whatsoever. He was an innocent, good kid," LaTasha White said.

Meanwhile, Ivy's mother, Emily Green, not only wants justice for her son but she also urged people to stop the violence.

"Wake up. Put an end to this. You need to get education, get a job, take care of yourself, be something out of life," she said.

Green is no stranger to violence. She says when she was student at Crane, she also was shot during a gang fight.

Ruben Ivy's death came shortly after the Green family lost another son to a hit-and-run driver.

The attacker of the second student left injured in the fight had yet to be found Sunday.